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Version: 5.16

Deploy a Cluster with the Hazelcast Platform Operator for Kubernetes

This topic explains how to deploy a Hazelcast cluster using Hazelcast Platform Operator for Kubernetes.

Prerequisites​

  • A Kubernetes or OpenShift cluster
  • The kubectl or oc command-line tools, configured to communicate with your cluster
  • Helm
note

If you want to migrate from the Hazelcast Helm Chart, please follow the guidance in Migrating from Helm document.

Step 1. Deploy Hazelcast Platform Operator​

As part of the deployment process, you will install the custom resource definitions (CRD) that describe the Hazelcast resource types.

A CRD is a Kubernetes feature that allows you to create custom resources that extend the Kubernetes API. CRDs allow new types of resources tailored to specific use cases to be created, without adding another API server. They also provide detailed reports on the configuration content of a CRD to any authorized Kubernetes API consumer. Using CRDs, you can:

  • Introduce unique objects or types into the Kubernetes cluster
  • Create platform resources on top of Kubernetes
  • Build and use platforms through self-service activity

For example, the clusterName field in the Hazelcast CRD can be used to rename a cluster.

CRDs are expressed in YAML format, just like standard Kubernetes entities. The Kubernetes API server processes and manages CRDs the same way it does with built-in resources.

For more information about the Hazelcast Platform Operator CRD, see API types.

Install and run Operator​

You can use a Helm chart to install the Hazelcast Platform Operator.

note

Hazelcast images are hosted at docker.io/hazelcast and registry.connect.redhat.com/hazelcast. The Docker images are used by default. If you need to fetch images from Red Hat or a private mirror, you can change the default image registry.

  1. Add the Hazelcast Helm Charts repository to your Helm repository list by running the following command:

    shell
    helm repo add hazelcast https://hazelcast-charts.s3.amazonaws.com/
    helm repo update
  2. You can either deploy the Hazelcast Platform Operator at the same time as CRDs or separately.

    note

    Since CRDs are global resources, they may need to be installed by an administrator.

    Run the following command to deploy the Operator and the CRDs together. By default, the Hazelcast Platform Operator watches all namespaces. Use the watchedNamespaces variable to update this configuration.

    shell
    helm install operator hazelcast/hazelcast-platform-operator --version=5.16.0 \
    --set=installCRDs=true
    note

    You can view all configuration options by running the following command: helm show values hazelcast/hazelcast-platform-operator

  3. Monitor the operator logs. At this point, the Hazelcast Platform Operator should be up and running. You can check it with the command below.

    shell
    kubectl logs deployment.apps/operator-hazelcast-platform-operator -n hz-system

Step 2. Start the Hazelcast Cluster​

After installing and running the Hazelcast Platform Operator, you can create a Hazelcast cluster.

Hazelcast Enterprise requires a license key. If you don't have a license key, you can request one from the Hazelcast website.

  1. Create a Kubernetes secret to hold your license key.

    For Kubernetes
    shell
    kubectl create secret generic hazelcast-license-key --from-literal=license-key=<YOUR LICENSE KEY>
    For Openshift
    shell
    oc create secret generic hazelcast-license-key --from-literal=license-key=<YOUR LICENSE KEY>
  2. Create the Hazelcast custom resource file and name it hazelcast-enterprise.yaml.

    yaml
    apiVersion: hazelcast.com/v1alpha1
    kind: Hazelcast
    metadata:
    name: hazelcast-sample
    spec:
    clusterSize: 3
    clusterName: mycluster
    repository: 'docker.io/hazelcast/hazelcast-enterprise'
    version: '5.6.0-slim'
    licenseKeySecretName: hazelcast-license-key
  3. Apply the custom resource to start the Hazelcast cluster.

    For Kubernetes
    shell
    kubectl apply -f hazelcast-enterprise.yaml
    For Openshift
    shell
    oc apply -f hazelcast-enterprise.yaml
  4. Verify that Hazelcast cluster is up and running by checking the Hazelcast member logs.

    For Kubernetes
    shell
    kubectl logs pod/hazelcast-sample-0
    For Openshift
    shell
    oc logs pod/hazelcast-sample-0

You should see the following:

Members {size:3, ver:3} [
Member [10.36.8.3]:5701 - ccf31703-de3b-4094-9faf-7b5d0dc145b2 this
Member [10.36.7.2]:5701 - e75bd6e2-de4b-4360-8113-040773d858b7
Member [10.36.6.2]:5701 - c3d105d2-0bca-4a66-8519-1cacffc05c98
]

Step 3. Check that the Hazelcast Cluster is running​

To check if a cluster is running, see the status field of the Hazelcast resource.

The status can be checked using the get hazelcast command.

shell
kubectl get hazelcast
NAME STATUS MEMBERS
hazelcast-sample Running 3/3

You can use the following command for the long format.

shell
kubectl get hazelcast hazelcast-sample -o=yaml
yaml
status:
hazelcastClusterStatus:
readyMembers: 3/3
phase: Running

The phase field represents the current status of the cluster, and can contain any of the following values:

  • Running: The cluster is up and running.
  • Pending: The cluster is in the process of starting.
  • Failed: An error occurred while starting the cluster.

Any additional information such as validation errors will be provided in the message field.

The readyMembers field represents the number of Hazelcast members that are connected to the cluster.

Next Steps​

Learn how to expose Hazelcast clusters outside Kubernetes so you can connect external clients to them.